A few weeks ago, my little one turned one. I knew that, for her first birthday, I didn’t want to buy yet another baby toy. We have plenty of them. Probably too many. And let’s be honest. She wouldn’t really have cared so much. Maybe for a little while. Some days. Or even weeks. But that would have been it.

Instead, I wanted to offer her something that she would remember. Something that would stay. I wanted to put a lot of me into her gifts. A lot of my time. And of how I see her today…

There was no big party neither. For several reasons. First, I didn’t want it to become another birthday party for my eldest son (he will get his own). And second, I think Maëva would have been a bit too young to really enjoy it. We did celebrate though. Of course, we did. But it was a small get together with close friends.

Five wonderful women helped me make my daughter’s first birthday really special. All of them are artists. In their own unique way. Let me share with you what we created together.

The Gifts

As said, there were no baby toys for once. But we still wanted to offer something to play with. So, I decided to customise an IKEA Duktig kitchen. And all I can say is: only when you have customised an Ikea play kitchen before you know what it means to love someone as much as a customised Ikea play kitchen…

I won’t give any explanations on how to paint the kitchen here. It’s fairly straight forward. You just need patience. And space. And time… And a husband who is willing to help build the kitchen once painted…

Still, here’s a list of things that are good to know:

• There are hundreds of examples of customised IKEA play kitchen online. It is definitely worth looking up “IKEA play kitchen hack” on Google Images before you start. Just to get some ideas.
• Paint the kitchen before you build it.
• ACE has non-toxic paint that is perfect for kids furniture.
• If you live in an apartment (like us), you can “rent” a little space at thejamjar where you can do the painting. It took me about 3-4 hours to finish it all (plus letting the paint dry overnight).
• It’s not the best idea to use spray. I tried to use it for the sink, water tap etc. and it was a mess. The colour came off even after it was supposed to be dry. Not ideal for small kids. Especially as it’s toxic. We ended up buying a second play kitchen. Don’t ask…

What I really want to talk about however is the woman who helped me make the kitchen unique. Who helped me add a marble work surface to it. And a modern stone wall backsplash.

I met Lilliam quite recently. And all I can say is that I had the chance to meet the right person at the right moment. Lilliam runs E-Walls Studio here in Dubai. I had heard of E-Walls Studio before and knew that they were selling vinyl wall stickers. Little did I know however about the fact that they offered the possibility to create your very own, personalised sticker design!

When I was talking with Lilliam, I mentioned my little one’s upcoming first birthday and my idea to create a trendy and unique play kitchen for her. With marble work surface and stone wall. She loved the idea and, the next day, I had a design proposition for the marble print sticker in my inbox. It was that easy. All I had to do is confirm the dimensions. The result is stunning and the sticker was super easy to apply!

It is also Lilliam who helped me create Maëva’s second birthday gift. It was supposed to be a simple drawing I made for her. A drawing of how I see her. Free. Colourful. And wild.

But, thanks to Lilliam, it became a wall sticker for her room.

It is the first thing Maëva sees in the morning when she wakes up. And the last thing she sees at night. And every time she looks at it, it gives me this special feeling. This is you. This is how I see you.

To create the sticker, I simply scanned my drawing and handwriting, sent it to Lilliam, together with the dimensions I had in mind, and voilà. It took only a few days to receive the sticker and about an hour more to stick it to the wall.

I absolutely love it. And I don’t think you need to be Picasso to put your drawings on the wall. It’s simply nice to be able to tell your little one: I made this. For you.

I actually hesitate to send Lilliam some of Luca’s drawings as well.

The Shoot

Before we moved to Dubai, I’d never thought that, one day, I would book a photo shoot for my daughter’s first birthday. But, well, Dubai is Dubai. And I have to admit that I love to have some nice pictures of the kids. For us. For them when they will be older. And for our parents who don’t see them very often.

One of my favourite photographers in Dubai is without any doubt . Maybe because she has the talent to capture raw emotions. To see – and show – what is going on deep inside. Her pictures are honest. And beautiful. Probably, they are beautiful because they are honest.

Maëva’s birthday shoot was not only about her. But about us as a family. And I love every single picture Rima took of us. But enough said, here are some of my favourite pictures of the shoot:

The Birthday Party

As already mentioned, there was no big party. It was rather a birthday lunch. We met with close friends at The Hamptons Café in Jumeirah. I really like this place. Having lunch at The Hamptons feels a bit like having lunch in your own cosy living room. Minus the kids’ toys. And the cooking.

They have a small private dining room on the ground floor, which was perfect for the occasion. And while the location is already beautiful, the flowers added the final touch. Our floral arrangements were done by the talented ladies from Le Marché des Fleurs. If you don’t know them yet, you should have a look at their Instagram page (). Their table set-ups are absolutely stunning!

I recently discovered May and Inas’ creations at a blogger event and was amazed by their attention to detail. So lucky that they accepted my last minute request and helped me decorate the room for Maëva’s birthday lunch! Once again, thank you, ladies! You are amazing!

And, of course, no birthday party without a birthday cake. And for special occasions like my kids’ birthdays there is only one person I call: Rasha Rmeily. Rasha is probably THE most perfectionist person I know. To say that her cakes are beautiful is a complete understatement. Her cakes are genuine art pieces. Scroll through her and you will see what I mean…

Rasha can do literally everything when it comes to cake designs. Just give her a theme and she will come up with ideas you wouldn’t even have dreamed of. If you want to order one of her cakes, you’ll need to be a bit patient though as Maëva’s cake was one of the last cakes she created before going on maternity leave.

Thank you, ladies, for making my little one’s first birthday so special.

xxx